Come Home, Black Sheep
by LittleMissDarkside
Summary: Mike and Harvey take a vacation in Santa Barbara to visit his cousin, Shawn, his husband, Carlton, and his friends and other family. There they discover more and have much more ahead of them. They help with a case that could change everything at the firm. Slash. Mike/Harvey and Carlton/Shawn
1. Hello Again

**Hello guys! Long time, no see! I'm sorry I've been AWOL. School started in August and it has mot of my attention. Plus, the Teen Wolf fandom has pulled me into their grip and I refuse it let me go! So without further delay, here's my new series!**

* * *

"So, you're telling me, there is another one of you?" Harvey said, surprisingly calm even though he sat up in their bed in supernatural speed. Mike would have chuckled if he didn't take offense to the statement. Mike raised his eyebrow, which then turned into a face of mocked offense.

"Why, Harvey, how dare you say it like that?" he screeched. Harvey scowled and Mike laughed as best he could at eight in the morning. It would seem like a reasonable time to get up to Harvey, but to Mike, it was like the ass o' clock of appropriate waking hours. "Look the only things we really have in common is that we have eidetic memory, the same blood type, and amazing boyfriends." Mike tried to soften the blow by kissing Harvey's chest, not willing to lift up just to peck him on the lips or even the cheek.

"And why do you need to go to Santa Barbara? What is the reason that they can't come to New York? "Harvey asked, dragging Mike into his lap. He kissed his neck and looked at the blonde. He never liked traveling and damned sure hate vacations. Airplanes and airports weren't worth the trouble that they caused.

"I haven't seen them in 17 years and Shawn, Gus, and I have been tight since we were kids. Shawn cannot stay still on a plane for his own life. We think he has ADHD or something. Plus, Jessica is forcing us to go on vacation and I think the warm, sunny, and calm Santa Barbara is much better compared to the crowded, fog filled, and gloomy New York." Mike added, kissing Harvey. He did not want another snarky comment come out of that mouth. He was going to Santa Barbara, even if he had to board the plane alone.

"Who the hell is Gus?" Harvey said, reluctantly pulling away from Mike.

"He's a childhood friend. The friend that was in that picture I have in my office." Mike responded. Harvey nodded in understanding. He had seen that infamous picture in Mike's office when he would try and pull the young man out of there when he'd go on those late night work binges. That was the last happy moment Mike had before his parents were killed and he was sent to Grammy's in New York.

"So, can we go?" Mike asked, putting on his best puppy eyes. The ones he knew Harvey couldn't resist. Harvey jus sighed.

"Fine, just let me call Donna so we can get tickets."

"Oh, I already took the liberty of doing that and calling my uncle." Mike informed Harvey, smiling and hooking his arms around Harvey's neck. Said man raised his eyebrow and looked at his boyfriend in disbelief.

"Oh, so you knew that I was going to say yes?"

"Oh, Harvey, there is one thing that I can promise you for sure. And that is that I know how to get what I want." Mike whispered, seductively as he brought his lips to Harvey's. In a matter of second's Harvey was happily rewarded control over the kiss and he flipped Mike over onto his back. Mike let out a little laugh before gasping.

"There is another one of you?" Lassiter uttered, shock washing over him. They were having breakfast with Gus and Juliet, talking about a relative coming by.

"I take offense in that, Lassipoo. And to answer your question, yes there is a younger, more controlled version of me." Shawn deadpanned, eating a piece of pineapple. Gus perked up when he knew who Shawn was referring to.

"Mike's coming back to Santa Barbara?! I haven't seen that kid in 17 years! When is he supposed to get here?" Gus babbled. Juliet looked confused and Lassiter was virtually relieved that this Mike guy was calmer than his husband.

"Yeah, he's coming to visit and he's bringing his boyfriend. They are staying at a vacation house that their firm owns near the beach." The brunette informed. This made Juliet's confusion skyrocket and Lassiter nearly sigh way too loud. He was not good with meeting people or sharing his home with guests. Especially if said guest are any family and their associates of Shawn Spencer Lassiter.

"Wait, who is Mike?" Juliet finally spoke up around a bite of bacon.

"He's Shawn's younger cousin. He lives in New York and is a lawyer. We were inseparable as children. Well, until Mike's parents were killed in a car accident. He was sent to his grandmother's at the request of his parents when he turned 9." Gus informed Juliet who nodded and finished her waffles. Gus then reached and stole some of Shawn's butter. That earned him a glare from this best friend. He just shrugged and put it on his pancakes.

"He's psychic like me." Shawn added, playing footsies with a non-consenting Carlton.

"Shawn, we all know you aren't psychic, so why keep up the act?" Carlton asked, sipping his coffee. The man just shrugged and called for the check and a to-go plate.

"Detective Carlton Lassiter." A rough voice said through the phone.

"Hi, can I speak to Shawn Spencer?" another voice asked. Lassiter passed the phone to the man that was watching Hawaii 5-0 and went back to filling police reports.

"Shawn Spencer, what tickles your pickle?" Shawn answered, shoveling up some Fritos and shoving another handful into his mouth, to the disgust of his working husband.

"That's gross, Shawn, but it's good to see that you haven't really changed that much since I last saw you." The very familiar voice responded. Shawn shot up and bit his tongue from howling.

"Well, isn't it little ol' Mikey. I've missed you man, when are you getting here?" Shawn asked, smiling and looking at Lassiter. To see Shawn smile was one of the best things in the world to him. He couldn't help by returning his own. He stood up, closed the file, and waked to stand behind his husband and kiss the nape of his neck.

"We're in the car right now. I can't wait to see you again." Mike smiled, grabbing onto Harvey's free hand. Harvey smiled back and kissed his knuckle. Mike smiled brighter and kissed his boyfriend's hand.

"Yeah, well don't get too comfortable because come tomorrow, Harvey is no longer safe from me. I will grill him!" Shawn said, trying to sound serious, despite the fact that Carlton was peppering kisses on his neck.

"Shawn, no. Okay, you promised not to do that and I don't want you to scare him off."

"Michael Ross, it hurts me that you think that I am so scary that it will frighten your lawyer boyfriend and he'll hop the next plan back to the Big Apple."

"Well, it shouldn't hurt because that's exactly what I see happening if you don't back off of him." Mike responded, laughing at the look on Harvey's face. He look disgruntled and like he was regretting giving into this after Mike pulled the "sex card." Mike just winked and that made Harvey whimper in frustration, which lead to Mike nearly laughing in Shawn's ear.

"Well, we are at the beach house and I'm beat. I will call you tomorrow and we could all meet for lunch if you'd like."

"Sure, give us time to catch up."

"Okay, I gotta go. Tell Lassiter goodnight for me and I can't wait to meet him."

"Okay. Likewise for Harvey."


	2. Friend of a Friend

**I'm cross posting this from my AO3. Go to that site to see my other fanfiction. I have more that is not on here. Check it out. I'm under the same name as I am here. Here's the next chapter.**

* * *

"Hey, Shawny!" Mike said, smiling at the man when he opened his door. Shawn smiled and hugged his younger cousin, kissing his blushing cheek. Shawn had him in his death grip.

"How are you? It's been so long!" Shawn exclaimed after he released Mike. Mike at his cousin and answer, "I'm amazing. How are you, Spencer?" Shawn answered in the same manner and turned around in the threshold.

He invited them into their home and told him to take a seat. The couples sat opposite of each other in the living room. They stared at each other for a good minute, not knowing what the hell they needed to do. It took Shawn's dad, Henry Spencer, to kill the awkward silence to end all awkward silences.

"Mike! There you are little guy! How's my nephew doing?" he booms when he walks into the, living room. Mike jumps out of his seat beside Harvey and is pulled into a bear hug that matches Shawn's. He smiles and hugs his uncle back, putting years of lost contact into it. When they pull away, Mike asked Henry a question.

"Let me get this straight. So, Shawn made you come over, so that he can interrogate my boyfriend and for it to not get illegal? And I'm pretty sure Juliet and Gus are going to be too." Mike said, quirking his eyebrow. Henry nodded and sighed. He pinched the bridge of his nose, which is what both Carlton and Harvey did too. It scared both Shawn and Mike how similar they were.

A knock on the door startled out of their scared and frustrated states.

"And let the fun begin."

"So, you work for a settlement firm?" Lassiter asked Harvey. Shawn was more than willing to let him take the wheel, knowing that Gus and Jules were going to scold him instead of Shawn. He kept eating his lunch calmly while everyone else tensed. Gus and Mike's heads shot up and looked at each other. Their eyes read, "We need to stop this before it gets too real, too quick."

"Yes, Pearson-Hardman. I worked at the DA's office for a while too, right when I left law school." Harvey answered, continuing to eat the pineapple upside down cake (he knew Mike had something to do with it, but from the way his pup was staring down his cousin, he had a hand in this too.)

"Why did you leave?"

"Okay, who wants some coffee? You want coffee, Henry? You look like you need vodka in that." Gus frantically said, running into the kitchen so he can get the coffee ready. From the looks on both Harvey and Lassie's faces, shit was going to get real whether they like it or not. An apologetic look was shot to Henry and Mike, before he disappeared entirely from the room.

"I didn't like it. It didn't feel right." Harvey answered, putting his hand on Mike's knee, trying to soothe his anxiety. They both know that he was leaning towards the time that the District Attorney's office buried evidence and then expect it not to come back and bite a sizable mark in their asses. That's why Harvey left and never mentioned the situation again until last year.

"So, let me get this straight. You prefer rich people staying rich and not facing the music, over criminals and families getting what they deserve, good or bad." Lassiter deduced. He gave Harvey a look that the lawyer would more than happily like to wipe off his face. Lassiter sat there, looking like a smug bastard in Harvey's opinion.

Harvey planted his feet firmly on the ground and calmly retorted, "No, it just didn't feel right. That's why there are different types of lawyers in this world. Some are a better prosecutor than I am and others aren't as good at settling. That's how this whole thing works." Mike's jaw nearly dropped. Harvey just said that he wasn't the best at convicting. But Harvey is amazing at everything. And Mike does mean EVERYTHING.

"No, it's about you hotshot lawyer's getting money placed right in your hand at the snap of your fingers. You'll never be better than district attorneys." Lassiter barked back, at the horror of Shawn. They had talked about this before. Shawn would interrogate Harvey while Mike would get his hands on Lassiter. Not the significant others biting each other's heads off.

"That's it!" Harvey shouted, startling Jules and Henry. Mike and Shawn jumped up and turn to the men. They looked like they were about to physically get into a fight, if it wasn't for them shouting. The cousins looked at each other and did the next best thing. Pinch their ears.

"Ow!" was pulled out of both of their throats. Shawn and Mike put more pressure on the ears, making their boyfriend and husband hiss out in pain. They continued to repeat the two letter sound, sinking slowly to the floor. Henry and Jules looked at the pair, eyes wide and surprised to no end. That actually works?!

The pair let go of their ears, pulling a whimper from the significant other's throat. The rubbed their ears and stood up, giving death glares to Shawn and Mike.

"Gus, say it!" Mike yelled from the dining room. Gus popped his head through the threshold of the kitchen.

"If we were in prison, you guys would be like, their bitches." He said, reciting the line from an episode of Friends. Harvey and Lassiter looked at Gus, who just shrugged and left the room once again to get the coffee. The other people in the room were cackling, holding their stomachs and tilting dangerously on passing out because of the lack of air getting into their lungs.

"I knew I hated that show." Spilled from Carlton and Harvey's mouth at the same time. They took one good look at each other before laughing and shaking hands.

"Harvey Specter."

"Carlton Lassiter."

Despite the earlier near altercation, Lassie and Harvey hit it off. They were talking about their other half's horrible style and getting along nicely. Right now, they were in a deep, and apparently, hilarious conversation with Juliet and Henry. Mike, Gus, and Shawn were outside, looking at the sunset, with a beer in their hands.

"So, how have you been? It's been almost seventeen years." Gus spoke, directing the question to Mike. The blonde shrugged and to a swig of beer before answering.

"Doing pretty good. I have a good job, an amazing penthouse, and an awesome boyfriend to share it all with. It's been pretty good to me." Mike said, leaving out how he got his job, the nature of him and Harvey meeting, and most importantly, Trevor.

"How's Grammy?" Shawn asked. Mike looked at his cousin and took a deep breath. He wanted to talk about their only Grammy in a different occasion but Gus was like a grandchild to her too, so why not?

"She's holding out. She has been really sick lately and I've been looking after her. If Harvey's friend, Donna, didn't volunteer to watch her while we were gone, I wouldn't be here. Harvey would have to deal with you guys on his own." Mike chuckled, trying to cut through the tension.

"He would never make it out." Gus commented, setting his beer down on the deck. Mike laughed and shook his head.

"Hey, you've survived me all this time without Mike. He could too." Shawn answered back.

"Barely, Shawn. I barely survived any of the stuff you drag me into. Mike, let me tell you what happened when a seal died!" Mike gave Gus a funny look before laughing and listening to the story.


	3. I Knew You Well

**I might post my Teen Wolf fic over here sometime soon. I'll just have to ask Betsie (my co-writer on that fic and partner-in-crime) and see what she thinks. Here's the chapter I just finished.**

* * *

"So, what are doing today?" Harvey asks, turning Mike over so he could kiss him. The younger man giggled and threw a leg over Harvey's hip. He framed his lover's face with his hands and started to deepen the kiss. Harvey wrapped his hand around the nape of Mike's neck and pulled at it. He broke the kiss.

"Hmm, I could think of a couple things," Mike teases, nipping at Harvey's neck. He was sucking and biting, ripping little satisfied grunts from the older man. He moves his body until he is fully straddling Harvey. He started kissing his chest and licking at his nipples, making the lawyer arch his back and moan. Thank God that they were not staying with Shawn and Carlton. He would never live this down if they heard him make all these breathy noises.

"No fair. You can't bribe me into a lazy day with sex," Harvey whines (a very manly whine at that), trying to buck off Mike. The man chuckles and moves forward to capture his lips. He nips at them and licks the inside of his lips.

"Oh, I can. You need to just relax and let your body do the talking," Mike coerced. He grabbed the lube from the bedside table, skipping foreplay. Don't get them wrong, they enjoyed a little play with their love making, but they would have twenty minutes tops before Shawn would come knocking at their door.

"I'm supposed to do the prep," Harvey states.

"Very good, Harv. Four for you! You go, Glenn Coco!" Mike chuckles. Harvey groans and covers his eyes with his forearm.

"Please, for the love of all this sacred, don't drag Mean Girls into bed with us! It's been eight years since that movie was released. Please stop with the references."

"One, I don't care how old that movie is, I will never tire of it. Second, the day the world stops referencing Mean Girls is the day that we will stop having sex and we'll become celibate. So for your sexual appetite's sake, you better get used to it," Mike lectures, moving a lubed finger in and out of him. He was up to two fingers by the time Harvey decides that he is taking his very sweet time.

"Here," he grunts. "Let me take care of that." He smears some lube onto his fingers and presses two of his own in, replacing Mike's. Said man hissed at the stretch. Harvey's fingers were bigger in circumference. He was scissoring and pumping the fingers in and out, quickly making it to three before withdrawing them. Mike whimpered and scratched at Harvey's chest. They would leave a few marks, but they would heal eventually.

"Brace yourself," Harvey commands, pushing into Mike. The associate hissed, and then moaned into Harvey's neck. Harvey turned them over so he would be above Mike. He waited a minute for Mie to adjust to the new position and the intrusion. He kissed him as he started to rock in and out, picking up a suitable speed. Mike was a writhing mess under Harvey.

"Christ, right there!" he shouts, as Harvey hits that very spot. Mike's had a prostate induced orgasm before and he can tell you that it is the best orgasm ever. It was like you were bursting at the seams and that you were scorching. He wanted the flame to persist and not be fanned out. But by the way that Harvey was battering his prostate; he wasn't going to get his wish.

"I'm so close," Harvey grunts, continuously pounding into Mike.

"Me too," Mike growled before his stiffened, arched, and then came in between them. His come hit Harvey's chest and landed on his own stomach and chest.

"Jesus H. Christ," Harvey supplies collapsing on Mike's side of the bed. That left his lover to get up and get a washcloth to wipe the spunk off of them. Mike is settling back in, just when he hears an obnoxious (to those who aren't used to it) knock at the beach house's door.

"And look at that," Mike says getting back up to fish out a pair of boxers. "The boy is now punctual. Ain't that something?" he chuckles, throwing Harvey a pair.

"I need your help, Mikey," Shawn says as soon as Mike opens the front door.

"Good morning to you too, Shawn. What's the problem?" Mike smiles. He was wide awake now, something that Shawn will never question. For as long as Shawn has known Michael Ross, he was never the morning person. And for him to have a sudden spark of energy is cause for concern. But then again, everyone is worried about Shawn. Touché, world. Touché.  
"Lassie and I have this case that we just got this morning. Via e-mail, can you believe that? They could have at least waited until we were fully awake before making us go to work. Carlton is a fucking beast when he hasn't had coffee yet," Shawn supplies. Mike just chuckles and leads him to the kitchen. Harvey isn't out of the shower yet, so he is the one to start breakfast. When he offers a piece of bacon to his cousin, Shawn declines it, making a gesture that he has already eaten.

"What is the case and why do you need me?"

"It's about Maxwell Duffer. He was murdered last night," Shawn says, sitting down on one of the stools near the island. Mike heard the name and dropped the mug he was holding, letting it shatter with the force of impact when it hit the floor. Harvey came rushing out of the bedroom. He was rolling up the sleeves of his button up shirt.

"What the hell was that? Mike?" Harvey asks with a distressed look on his face. Shawn and Mike turned to the closer and just stared.

"Maxwell Duffer is dead," Mike says. Harvey's face was stiff and his eyes were wild.

"Shit! I need to call Jessica," he says, returning to the bedroom to get his phone. Back in the kitchen, Shawn's eyes were turned back to his cousin.

"What was that all about?" he asked.

"Maxwell was a client that we had back at the firm. He was kind of a close friend too. He has a baby boy with his partner Joe," Mike responds. "He ran a company that helped deliver medical supplies to the elderly, poor, and mentally and physically handicapped. They do great work and their services were affordable. They have business in every state with the exception of Alaska. He came to us when a pharmaceutical company tried to sue him for accusations of mishandling and faulty production of their medicine."

"I know where to check first then. Anything else?"

Harvey calls from the bedroom. "I can get Donna and Rachel to search through his file to see if there is anything we missed. Jessica is in a tailspin right now. Jessica knew Maxwell's family for years. He moved here to Santa Barbara, but they kept in touch. Especially when she got a divorce and when he got married to Joe." Harvey pinched the bridge of his nose and cursed again.

"Goddammit, I forgot Joe! He could be losing his mind right now."

"Don't worry about that. Lassie went to his house. You should go by there and check in on him and baby Jamie," Shawn recommends.

"We really should visit them. We can try today this afternoon. The sooner, the better," Mike says, taking the last chocolate chip-blueberry pancake off the pan.

"Alright. God, I just hope you can find who did this. Max and I have been friends since we were kids. I wish I could have at least said goodbye to him," Harvey stresses.

"Don't worry, Harvey. We will get to the bottom of this. I better get going. I need to go see Gus and talk this over.


	4. Our Common Goal

**OMG! It's been forever, hasn't it?** **Dammit, I told myself that I shouldn't just bail on this after two months and then want to write something. My defense is that I got caught up in the Common Law and Teen Wolf fandoms and it went downhill from there. Without further delay, here's the next chapter.**

* * *

"I've got the files!" Rachel hurried, rushing into the glass door of Jessica's office. She had at three files on Maxwell Duffer, Eastern Medical Supply, and their court battle. She had searched the file room high and low for it and finally came up with it.

"Great, we can get started," Jessica sighs. She pats the seat beside her and Rachel instinctively sits. Donna comes in a second later, taking a file from the stack and surveying it. She may not be a lawyer, but she was a genius. She knew everything.

Rachel points at her file and turns it, so Jessica could see it, "It says here that this wasn't the first time that they were in a dispute. In 1996, they were in a Jersey court when the front runner of Duffer's Medical Assistance in their Virginia chapter saw a fault in the production of antidepressants. It looked like some capsules were tamper with and that they were contaminated."

"Why was it in New Jersey if it was the Virginia chapter?" Jessica asked.

"This wasn't the first time they had complaints of this. Jersey was the very last and the worst case of medication being tampered with," Rachel answered.

"Yeah and on this file, Eastern Medical accused them of slander and tried to bring a civil suit. It was denied in court because of overwhelming evidence that those accusations were, in fact, true," Donna recites. She was scanning the paper and double checking it. "They stopped supplying any medication to Duffer's, thus dropping their own profits by $22 million. That killed business for a good year, but they eventually got back some of that profit. Not by much though."

"Okay, so we have the first court case and the aftermath. The thing I'm stuck on is the fact that, in my file, it says that Duffer's Medical Assistance only accounted for $12 million dollars of that profit," Jessica wondered aloud.

"This case study says that even though Duffer's was their major client, they had many others. The other $10 mil was from those companies. This record, which they would bring up later in their current dispute, the accusations made the other clients sick and they dropped them immediately as a supplier," Rachel answered.

"Okay, now that we have gotten that case down," Donna sighed, "let's take a look at the current one. Who's going to take on the job of being in court during trial?"

"I'm going to call Maxwell's partner and have him come in. He might need to appear on the stand," Jessica answered.

Rachel's brow furrowed and her voice was filled with confusion, "I thought Harvey was looking for an out of court settlement."

"He was," Jessica answers, "but he now realizes that it is too late. His client is dead, and their opponent is the main suspect. Plus, this is outside New York jurisdiction. It's all the way on the other side of the country."

"So," Donna starts, "what do we do? We can't just stick our foot in this investigation's waters. That's moral and company suicide!"

Jessica smirked, "He was our client first. This was our case first. There isn't any law that says anything about an active investigation that stems from two separate jurisdictions is prohibited in one of them. We can have our cake and eat it too, Donna."

"Well, should we really get started," Rachel smirks. It was time for them to get down to business.

* * *

"Shawn, what in the world are we doing here? This isn't our investigation; Psych wasn't called in for this," Gus complained as he pulled up in front of a tall building. The name _Santa Barbara Eastern Medical _was big and bold on the front of the facility. This was their central office and the first place that they needed to look to go further. This is their Point A.

"Look," Shaw begun, "Chief sent this to me and Lassiter, not just him. Besides, this was Mike's client. If he doesn't find out who killed him, there goes his case and maybe his career."

"Alright. But if anything goes wrong, you're on your own. I have a history with this place," Gus sneered. They were in the main lobby and heading to the receptionist. He was a young man, possibly no more than 27 years old. He had a pressed, dry cleaned suit with a white shirt and a skinny tie. If this wasn't a serious case, Shawn would have pulled out his phone and took a picture to send to Harvey.

"May I help you?" the man asked, not looking up from the paperwork set in front of him. He was scribbling in some illegible handwriting that would give Lassiter a heart attack if he ever tried to read it.

"Yes, I'm Dirk Diggler and this is my associate, Tony Stark Naked. We are from the Santa Barbara Police department and we have a couple questions," Shawn fibbed. Gus played along perfectly, willing himself not to either laugh or scold Shawn. "We need to talk with your employer, Mr. James Montgomery."

"I'm sorry; Mr. Montgomery is in a meeting. May I have your contact information, so he can get back to you?" the assistant said quickly. He took out a pen and a planning book and started to scribble down his name. Shawn's eyes were wandering when he saw the receptionist's hand. It was pale with few blond hairs on it. Against that skin's pale complexion was a healing gash. There was scar tissue and it looked like it had been sutured recently. Shawn looked up at the man, who now had his attention back on him.

"No, thank you," Shawn said, halting the employee's fast moving chicken scratch. "That's not necessary. I can just call him when he's not in the office and talk to him that way. Sorry for bothering you."

"It's no problem, Mr., "the employee took a sideways glance at his planning book, "Diggler? Isn't that from _Boogie Nights?"_

Gus broke in immediately. "That is beside the point, sir. We should really get going." Gus grabbed Shawn's bicep and tried to rush out. He was stopped, though, by the man not moving a muscle. Gus wasn't weak; he was in pretty good shape. It was the fact that Shawn was ridiculously sturdy.

"I'm sorry, we never caught your name," he smiled. He saw the blush that was formed on the guy's cheeks when he smiled at him.

"It's Jacob. Jacob McFadden," the receptionist answered, smiling shyly. He held out his hand and Shawn took it. He kissed his knuckles, which nearly made Jacob giggle.

"Have a nice day, Mr. McFadden," Gus hurried. He got a better grip on his friend's arm and hurried him out. Gus scowled at the smirking man that was behind the wheel of the company car now.

"What the hell was that?" he scolded.

"What was what, Gussy?" Shawn asked, playing dumb as he pulled out of the parking lot and turned onto the road.

"You know what I'm talking about!" Gus shouted. "You were flirting with that McFadden guy." Shawn shrugged and made a couple turns.

"So what? It was to help the investigation, Gus. I was improvising and I spotted something there too," Shawn said, defending himself.

"I don't care. You were flirting and you're married."

"I didn't mean anything by it. Gus, Lassiter knows that I do that and that it gets results."

"Yeah, until those 'results' go haywire and we have to explain ourselves to the Chief, Lassiter gets mad at you, and then I end up having to harbor you on my couch," Gus reasoned. There have been times that Shawn has ended up on his couch and cried through the night. It wasn't pleasant for Gus to see his friend so upset. He knew that Shawn went through hell to develop this relationship with Carlton, and he knew that it would kill him inside if he was going to lose it over a case.

"Okay, I understand you're reasoning, but like I said, my cousin's career is on the line," Shawn said.

"Your job will be, too, if you keep this up," Gus said. "Watch out, Shawn. This is a high powered case."

"I get it. Now, please turn on the CD player. I got the _Best R&B Music of All Time _CD in there."

"It better have Brian McKnight on there."

"You say that like I would ever forget him."

* * *

"How long have you known Maxwell, Harvey?" Henry asks. They were at Henry's house and they had the file with crime scene files in it.

"16 years, sir. I knew him two years before I had to handle his first dispute with Eastern Medical Supply Medical. I had talked to him when Mike and I were on the way here. It's only been 3 days," Harvey answered. He was frustrated. He was ready to try and settle this case and move on with everything. What killed him the most was the fact that they had become close friends over the years. He was there when he and his partner brought home their baby boy, James Harvey Duffer-McGallagher.

"How close were you to closing this suit?" Lassiter asked, flipping through his notepad.

"I was going to settle as soon as we got back to New York. That was when the trial was suppose to take place."

"Did he say anything about there being anyone after him? Was there problems with Joe?" Henry asks him. Harvey stares at his hands for a good minute. His precious conversations with him never were out of the ordinary. He had established a pretty good relationship with Maxwell, so he would have noticed if something was wrong. Besides, their last phone conversation had nothing to do with the case. It was just friendly and that was that.

"No. The case was never mentioned. He was just the same person."

Lassiter smiled weakly and held out his hand, which Harvey shook immediately. "That's enough for us. Thanks, Mr. Specter."

"Anytime."

* * *

_"Harvey! It's a surprise," Maxwell smiled. He was a tall man, almost towering over Harvey. He had dark brown hair that was nearly grey at the temples, and his eyes were a pale grey-blue. He had high cheek bones and a distinctly olive skin tone. His accent was mixed between a typical New Yorker accent with a tinged country tone. _

_"Max, you say that like I would actually miss my godchild's birth," Harvey smiles. "Is it a boy or a girl?"_

_"A beautiful baby boy. He's perfect, Harvey. He has my eyes and a chubby face. His skin tone is nearly fair like Joe's. He's ours," Maxwell chuckled, tears coming to his eyes._

_Harvey's expression turned to worry. "What's wrong?"_

_"Promise me, Harv."_

_"Promise you what, Max? You're scaring me here."_

_"Promise me if anything happens to me or Joe, you will watch over James. He's all I've got besides Joe and the company, and I can't bear him being left alone," Maxwell pleaded. Harvey looked at his friend and pulled him into his arms. He hugged his friend closed and whispered in a hushed tone._

_"What makes you think that something is going to happen to you?" Harvey worried. Maxwell had few enemies and the ones he had couldn't put up much of a fight._

_ "I had a life before you knew me, Harvey," Maxwell started. "I did things and made friends. I never did anything wrong except be a friend to someone. But that friendship can come back and bite me square in the ass."_

_"What happened, Max? Tell me!" Harvey pleaded, fear etched tightly on his face._

_"If I do, I risk hurting you and Mike." Maxwell turned away and walked in the direction of the delivery room. He went to wait for Joe to come out so they could see their son is safe in the nursery. Harvey was left standing there, not knowing what to do. He was at a loss for words. He had never known Maxwell to be cryptic like that. It scares him._

_He hardly ever gets scared for someone's life._


End file.
